The World's Oldest Story!! - AR - Page 3

Atul and Anjali wanted to spend some time together, and so did Abhi and Nikki. So Armaan and Muskaan had decided over breakfast, that they should leave the love birds alone and go around the city. Though Muskaan called it 'shopping', Armaan liked to call it 'hanging around'. He obviously knew what he was getting himself into, but he dint want to impose on Abhi and Nikki. They hadn't got as much time together as they had hoped, and he thought they deserved some privacy. Though he preferred, not imagining what they would do in their alone time! The way they coo chi-cooed in front of him dint leave much to imagination, he thought!! And anyway, he had an appointment with a very famous tattoo artist today, so he thought, he might as well take the girls out. They could shop while he got his body art sorted out! Besides, the thought of spending time with 'Basket' somehow excited him!

Riddhima was taking forever to get ready, and this was pissing Muskaan off!! "What s wrong with you Ridzi? This is the fifth time your changing!! You're not going to walk the ramp Ridzi… Wear anything, we're just going shopping ", yelled an exasperated Muskaan!

"Give me five more minutes Muski, I am almost done", pleaded Riddhima. For the first time, after her school farewell party, was she having so much trouble in deciding what to wear. After today's dream, she was sure she was 'attracted' to Armaan, and wanted to look her best in front of him. She felt like a school girl again! 'Just a Crush!... Just a Crush!..', she kept reminding herself again and again. She had come to a conclusion during her hour long bath, that what she felt for Armaan was just attraction. Well, he was sweet, friendly and oh! So handsome! Of course, she was attracted to him!! She remembered Nikki's words, 'Who wouldn't be attracted to him?'! So she made up her mind, that without over thinking this, she would 'go out' with HIM ('and Muskaan' her mind reminded her) and enjoy herself! However, she did want to look nice. So after trying out half a dozen outfits, she finally settled on a yellow strappy summer dress that landed just above her knees. She left her hair open and wore her pretty white stilettos and walked out of her room, leaving behind a very irritated and bewildered Muskaan for the second time that day!!

Armaan was already waiting for them, when they reached the hotel lobby. "Hey Muskaan! How do you always manage to look stunning?", he winked at her and gave her a warm hug. Then spotting Riddhima he waved at her, "Hey Basket! Wassup?". Riddhima couldn't help but flare up in anger. 'Hey Basket! Wassup?', did he just say that to me, she thought, anger clearly visible on her face.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that! My name is Riddhima! Riddhima Gupta!", she seethed with anger. Armaan found it extremely amusing. The scowl on her face was so entertaining, that all the apprehensions he had about facing her were completely washed away. 'And Armaan's back!!', he thought to himself!

"Alright Basket, I'll remember it the next time!!", he smirked and turned around before she could retort. "Arrgh…!!", he heard her growl as he walked away with Muskaan and a huge grin plastered on his face. How he loved getting on her nerves!!

Riddhima was muttering to herself throughout the drive, cursing him under her breath, sitting in the back seat. While Muskaan and Armaan had a loud and cheerful conversation going on between them in the front, he kept an eye on Riddhima through his rearview mirror, just enjoying the play of emotions on her face. He finally dropped them off to the mall and left them to do their shopping. "Thank God he's not coming with us. I wouldn't have been able to bear him for another second! Why the hell is he coming back for lunch!! Its so much better without him!", Riddhima was cursing Armaan non-stop!

"Chill yaar Ridzi!! Why do you let him bother you so much! He teases you only because you get teased. Waise 'Basket' quite suits you", Muskaan teased her. "Muski please!!", Riddhima was angry with him, not so much because he called her Basket, but because he completely ignored her. She had taken so much effort to look good, but he dint give her so much as a glance! And to top it all he complimented Muskaan and gave her a hug, while all she got was a wave and a "Wassup?", she said it out loud indignantly, still unable to believe he had used 'wassup?' on her!!

Riddhima and Muskaan shopped till they dropped and finally, headed for the restaurant where they were going to meet Armaan for lunch. Riddhima was at peace now, what with all the shopping. She was too tired to be angry with Armaan. "Muski! What are you looking at?", Riddhima saw Muskaan staring behind her with her mouth open, so she turned around only to find Armaan walking towards them with his uber cool casual demeanor. "What the hell have you done?", screamed Muskaan, looking at Armaan "That is so bloody cool!!", she almost fell off her seat in her excitement.

Riddhima was confused, "What's cool Muski? Calm down, and I don't see anything different with this Joker", She looked at Armaan again, trying to find something different!!

"Ha.. Ha.. Very funny 'Basket'!", he looked at her condescendingly and smirked, "Joker! Really? That's just lame! That's your answer to my BASKET!?? Oh! Puh-lease,' Basket' is just Legendary!!"

"Whatever!!", he had started annoying her again, as her gibe fell flat, she turned her attention to Muskaan again, who was still in awe of what she had seen. Only Riddhima dint know what that was?

"Kya hua Basket? Forgot your glasses at home!!", Armaan smirked as she still hadn't figured it out,

''Or you just cant take your eyes off my handsome face to notice anything else!!"

Riddhima was taken aback. Just then Muskaan held his hand, and that brought the object of her affection to Riddhima's notice.

"Is that a tattoo?", Riddhima gaped at Armaan's hand. It was a huge tattoo that covered most of his Left arm. She couldn't figure out quite what it was, but it looked like a spiky dragon to her. Armaan was totally enjoying the attention he was getting. This was another thing on his 'to-do list' on this trip apart from skydiving, and he was proud of this Masterpiece!!

"But you're a doctor!", Riddhima spat at Armaan, making a face.

"What does me 'getting a tattoo' have anything to do with me 'being a doctor'?", Armaan was a little taken aback by the negativity that Riddhima, made no effort to hide.

Riddhima was just surprised by the body art on display. She had noticed Armaan's other tattoo on his upper arm, but thought of it, as just another experiment that you do, when you're young. She had no idea, that he would permanently draw a dragon on his arm. As she got over her initial shock, she thought it was quite cool! She always wanted a tattoo when she was in college, but she was scared that her parents wouldn't approve. But she couldn't ever imagine carrying off 'that big' a tattoo!

"No! I mean, I dint think of YOU, so much as a masochist!!", she was bent on having the last word in! But Muskaan butted in, "Ridzi, please... I think its awesome! Really Armaan... its just too cool!"

"Thanks Muskaan!! And waise bhi it takes guts to get a tattoo! Not everyone can do it you know", he teased Riddhima with a huge grin!

And... oh! No! Riddhima fell for his bait, "Please, are you implying... that I cant get one! I so can!! Just don't want to!"

"Stop making excuses Basket, just admit it that you're scared of needles!",Armaan provoked her.

That was it, the water was over the bridge for Riddhima now, "You're wrong Dr. Armaan...Whatever, I am so not scared of needles!"

"Prove it! And BTW its Dr. Mallik!", Armaan threw open the challenge, going close to her face.

"You're so on Mallik… You're so on!!", and with that Riddhima started walking towards the exit with Armaan at her heels, and poor Muskaan confused as ever... as to what happened!

At the tattoo studio, Riddhima was apprehensive, but dint show it, while Muskaan continuously tried to dissuade her from going ahead with this madness, "Are you crazy!! Don't you at least want to ask Anjy? What will Shashank sir say? Stop this madness Ridzi! It hurts a lot!!"

The more Muskaan dissuaded her, the more determined Riddhima was to go ahead with this. She dint know why she was doing it, but apart form proving Armaan wrong, she wanted to do something for herself. She wanted to do something 'wild' and 'unpredictable'! Probably, looking at the way Armaan lived his life to the fullest, she had realized how boring she was! Or at least she thought so! She wanted to get out of her vegetable existence. 'And wasn't that exactly, why she had come here?', she asked herself. She had made up her mind... and no one could change that! Absolutely no one!!

Initially, Armaan was trying to push her into it, but then realized that the pain maybe too much for her to take. So he tried warning her, but she paid no heed. In fact she became more determined to go ahead with the tattoo!

As Riddhima drove back to the resort with Muskaan and Armaan, she had a wide smile on her face and a pretty butterfly on her ankle! She was contended, and not because she had shut Armaan up, but because she finally got what she wanted, from a very long time! She felt like she'd broken the shackles that bound her. She was so glad that Armaan had pushed her into this !!

Armaan couldn't take his eyes off her smile! She had this sense of liberation about her. It was her best smile so far, he thought. Losing to her was totally worth it, if it brought that beautiful smile on her face! He couldn't help but sigh!!

A tear rolled down her eye, as their plane took off from the Panjim airport. She didn't want Muskaan to notice, so she looked out of the window, into the vast expanse of the Blue sky! It painfully reminded her of those mesmerizing deep Blue eyes, which were as expansive as the sky she stared at now. She couldn't believe that a week, had changed her perspective on life, on the world around her and she herself had changed so much!

She recounted the first time she had set her eyes on him. The dance that had left her in ambivalence. It was quite an evening she thought, now. She wouldn't have in her wildest dreams thought then, that this one evening would remain with her forever!

She recalled each and every moment she spent with him. She silently chuckled at how she had blown him off at the Basket ball court! And then he'd called her 'Basket'! She remembered how he purposely called her that to irritate her, time and again. Little did she think that 'Basket' would some day become more of an endearment to her! Now that she thought about it, she loved it when he called her that! It somehow made it seem more personal. He didn't nickname anyone else, she recalled. It made her, in a way, feel special.

She smiled, when she remembered how he had fooled a bunch of doctors into believing that he had twisted his ankle. He was such a nautanki! And what overacting, she thought! She wondered how he got away with that. The fact that he did all that for her brought this warm feeling to her and she smiled deeply!

Everything about him seemed so endearing, now. The way he challenged her into getting the tattoo, but still tried to stop her as it may hurt her… She looked down at her tattoo. It would always remind her of him, she thought. Coz if it weren't for him, she wouldn't have ever dreamt of getting one!

Her heart felt heavy, thinking about dinner last night. They had decided to have dinner together, as Riddhima, Muskaan, Anjali and Atul were scheduled to leave the next day. All of them were having fun, either guffawing at Armaan and Abhi's sad PJs, or poking fun at Riddhima, aka Basket. Obviously Riddhima wasn't going to shut up and soon enough Armaan and Riddhima got into another one of their verbal duels,

"Basket I wonder, what s in that head of yours? Brain lagta nahi hai? Maybe straw or hay", Armaan was purposely trying to get a reaction out of Riddhima.

"At least mine has something! Tumhara toh khali hai!", she retorted.

"Wah! Wah! Wah! Basket! Not bad! You're getting better at this. Lagta hai company ka asar ho raha hai!", Armaan loved to see her scowl.

"I don't think so Armaan! agar aisa hota toh you would have at least been an ounce less foolish than you were when you got here!",came Riddhima's quick reply.

"Unfortunately Basket, I have become crazier than what I was when I got here! That just tells you about the company I've been keeping!", he smirked at her.

"oh! So you admit that you were crazy to begin with! I pity your parents Armaan, wonder how they bear with you! " , She looked at him smugly, smiling a little.

Armaan's face fell as he heard her remark, slowly the smirk on his face effaced and his dimple disappeared! Riddhima who was smug initially was shocked to see the pain in Armaan's eyes. She knew she'd said something very wrong.

Nikki, who probably had an inkling as to what was wrong, stepped forward to save the day, "Guys stop it, Apni had paar mat karo! You guys just need a reason to start fighting! Chalo, lets go dance instead", saying so she dragged everyone to the dance floor. Everyone was quite enjoying themselves, except Armaan of course. Riddhima noticed how Armaan was very disturbed and distracted and had quickly left the dance floor. This was so not, 'the ARMAAN' she had first set her eyes on, who had set the dance floor on fire! And her heart sunk as she realized that probably, she was the reason for his despair! She saw him seated on a rock on the far side of the beach. He was staring into the sea aimlessly. She slowly approached him, wondering how he'll react, "Armaan, I don't know if what I said hurt you, and if it did then I don't know why? But I am really sorry. It was completely unintentional" Riddhima apologized sincerely. Getting no reaction from him, she carefully placed her hand on his. "I am sorry Armaan!", as he turned around to look at her she was shocked to see his bloodshot eyes, just on the verge of tears! She saw the anguish in his eyes, his face contorted with unbearable pain and on an impulse, she took him in her arms, and he shed silent tears on her shoulder…

As she recollected that incident, her eyes welled up. She couldn't see that emptiness in his eyes! That loneliness that she never thought she would see, in him, of all the people. He was always so full of life, and spread the cheer to every one around him, that seeing him like that completely caught her off guard! That day, she just lent him a shoulder to lean on. She hadn't asked what was the reason for his pain, coz she knew that would hurt him more. And she couldn't see him hurt. The way he held onto her that day, she realized he was extremely insecure. About what though, she didn't know. She guessed it was about his parents, but she didn't dare ask him. That incident somehow brought them closer to each other. They felt so comfortable in each others' embrace, not demanding anything, except each others' presence.

She realized now, that what she felt for him was much more than just attraction. He wasn't 'Just another Crush!!!'. She realized, that he may never feel that way about her... As Nikki's words replayed in her ears, she wondered if Nikki had felt the same way about him, when she thought she was in love. Coz for Riddhima, though she was no expert , this was the closest she could ever get to love!

As the captain announced that they would be landing, Riddhima made a resolve that she will not lament the loss of love. Instead, she will treasure this time she spent in Goa for the rest of her life. She wont let her first brush with love get marred by negativity. She would never forget Armaan! but she will move on in life… And who knows their lives may cross paths someday… who's seen the future anyway! But that 'one week' will remain with her forever, coz she knew in this one week, she'd had the best Time of Her Life!!

As she saw her parents and her Nani, who had come to pick her up at the airport, she felt like she's come back to 'her world'! The one week she spent in Goa felt like another epoch altogether! She pushed her trolley through the Arrival's gate and sighed, ready to take on 'Life'!!

Time of your life - Green Day

Another turning point;

a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;

directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test

and don't ask why.

It's not a question

but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable

but in the end it's right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs

and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf

In good health and good time.

Tattoos of memories

and dead skin on trial.

For what it's worth,

it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable

but in the end it's right.

I hope you had the time of your life!!